I've made a lemon-lime syrup w/ lemon juice, lime juice, sugar and citric acid. But it still needs perfecting before I share it. But try experimenting yourself! I've also thought about using the plain lemonade packets and adding some lime juice and sugar (no need for extra citric acid with those little packets). Currently, what we like to use are the water flavor enhancers. I try to avoid the HFCS and artificial sweeteners so that really limits options for us, but I've used Skinny Girl and Sunkist water enhancers and got good reviews from the kids.

You might try hanging a fabric bag w/ moth balls on the handles. I don't know for sure, but I suspect the smell would act as a deterrent. I can't imagine them eating it! Or, get a small animal INTERMITTANT electric fence charger and run an electric wire around your place. We got a battery-powered one from Amazon and it has been great. No electric cords to worry about getting power to where you need it. and the batteries (2 D size) have lasted over two months now.

BTDT, too. My rule: If it smells okay and looks okay, then it's okay to wear again. BUT, facing a whole basket of uncertainties (for instance, if ds cleaned his room and threw ALL clothes, clean and dirty, into one basket), rather than checking each item, I have been known to just dump the whole thing in the washer. I'm not sure if that makes me lazy or not.

*bump* :blush:

I need to cancel my Audible membership to free up some funds for school this fall. But I need to use up my credits first...5 total, actually. I could get books for the kids, but I already have quite a few of those and was wanting some for myself and my dh, too. I am one of those who has changed my worldview in the past couple of years, but my dh hasn't. So, he is a Baptist, and I am very much eclectic (with a metaphysical, "Earthy"--is that even a term?? LOL-- and Edgar Cayce leaning). Dh is struggling the most with this. He is going to be travelling a lot with work, and likes to listen to books while he's driving, so I would love some recommendations for him to listen to. Any suggestions? Also, any good recommendations on earth-based spirituality? Maybe some history or just some inspirational? Nothing with a lot of applications or things to do, because I would rather have those in a physical book, not audio, so it's easier to go back and reference. I would love something that's a reliable source of history on witches and paganism. Several things that I've looked at either have mixed reviews or seem to be something that has a lot of practical applications like what I mentioned before. Any recommendations are appreciated! But Audible has a limited number of books, so not all books are available from them.

You're right. I messed that up, though. The person said Judaism, not Christianity. Sorry about that. He said that most religions are...I don't remember the exact words, but something to effect of "spin offs". He was saying that most religions had their roots in Judaism, and then he went on to specifically reference Buddhism. FTR, I disagree. I disagree w/ most things that are said at church, but that's another story. I was wondering how a Buddhist would feel about that. Do you find that offensive? Amusing? Or is there some truth to it that I'm not aware of, because I know very little about Buddhism, though I didn't think it was related to Judaism at all.

Yesterday, at church (a conservative, independent Baptist church, to give you perspective), someone made the comment, "Even Buddhism has Christianity in it." I have my own thoughts on that comment, but I was curious what others, particularly those who follow Buddhism, would think of this comment.

Thank you for sharing. It's a wonderful reminder of small acts that can be so big. And it goes beyond you and your neighbor...everyone who had now read it has been encouraged by your act of kindness.

Thanks. I had briefly thought of doing school somewhere other than home. I'm not sure why I dismissed it, but you make some good points. I might add that to my list of options. But you're right. A good part if my problem right now is being overwhelmed with how many things scream for my attention. (Not meaning to hijack....)

What are you afraid of that's stopping you from putting them in PS? What do you think will happen if you do? (Good and bad) What if you DON'T? Where will your present course going to take you? I ask these because I've asked them of myself. I am SERIOUSLY considering PS for my kids next year for just the reasons you listed. I am not--have not been--getting school done even close to how it should be. I keep saying I'm going to do better, but I'm just not making it. Several years of undiagnosed and untreated depression have put us so far behind its not funny. And now I'm so burned out with school, if I can't afford the co-op classes, I think I'm going to have to go PS. And I don't feel bad in the least for this. I want to be MOMMY, not frustrated drill sergeant/teacher.

This has been my experience exactly.

Thanks. I will definitely look into that!

Thanks, but yeah, it's a laptop thing. I think we're just too hard on them. The problem is that the laptops really don't stand up to the portability. First time, the screen broke. We fixed that. (And that was totally not being careful enough, I know. Expensive lesson.) Then the whole thing just died. I couldn't even retrieve any data from the hard-drive. (Not me personally...a professional.) I don't know what happened there. It might not have had anything to with being a laptop in this case. On the other laptop (which was generally used by my dd and not a replacement), the casing broke around the hinges where you open it, and that has killed the monitor. I've tried hooking up an external monitor, but it won't read it. I'm pretty sure I can get the data from it, and I've been backing it up because I knew the casing was broken and it would really mess up sometime, but to replace the casing, it's over $200. Not worth it, IMO. So, two out of the three times the laptops broke, it was directly related to being moved around. If it was just one person using it, I think it would last longer. But several people sharing the laptop just doesn't work. I think I should just stick with desktops that don't get moved and use a tablet when I need to be portable. (Which will not help w/ SOS, but the kids can get over having to sit in the office to do their school.)

Oh yeah, I'll second Grimm and Chuck. We enjoyed those, too. ("We" meaning myself, my dh, and my two teens.) We liked Agents of Shield, too, if you can get all the episodes. :glare: ETA: And Warehouse 13 and Eureka!!!

We are HUGE Supernatural fans around here. Superwholock refers to those who consider themselves fans of Supernatural, Doctor Who, and Sherlock. If you like the last two, there's a pretty good chance that you'll like Supernatural, too. It's TV-14, not M, but definitely more mature than Doctor Who or Sherlock or OUAT, imo. Probably Lost, too, though it's been quite a while since I've watched that. I haven't seen the others. It is a GREAT show, but if you're/she's concerned about the content, watch the first episode or two. It's a pretty good gauge for the rest of the series. Jericho is on Netflix. It's a short series, but it's good, and it ends decently. If she likes Sherlock, she'll probably like Leverage and Psych. I never got past the first few seasons of Heroes, but the first three (I think) were pretty good. (We moved and lost Dish, and I never went back to finish the series.) If she likes the new Star Trek movies, she'll probably like Heroes. Zachary Quinto (Spock) plays a VERY interesting character in Heroes.

And that means no school, for the most part, anyway, since we do Switched-On Schoolhouse. This is about the 3rd time this has happened this school year, with two different laptops! I am so done with laptops. :mad: I think I'm just too hard on them or something. I am going to stick with desktops and tablets from now on...at least for me. While I'm trying to figure out the pc problems, I'm filling in some with Crash Course (and some other stuff), but anyone have any other suggestions that do not require much planning or effort on my part? For about 4th grade and up?

Let me see if I get this....You experienced a paradigm shift. You've changed, but people around you don't really know the depth of these changes. You know how they think and how they believe about certain things because you once thought and believed the same. Because of this, you have a pretty good idea of how they will react if they knew the truth about your beliefs, and it would not be accepting. You feel pretty certain that AT THE LEAST you would have their pity and become a missionary project. And so, you feel hypocritical by not being honest, but you still value them for other reasons and don't really want to just walk away from them altogether. So you're frustrated and wish they could just get over their own narrow-mindedness. Is that right? If not, sorry. That's how I feel anyway. :/

I agree. Kill it. If "it" comes back, you know it isn't the same one.

OP, I've BTDT, too. I raised in a very religious, Baptist home. Like you, I found myself searching for that "fullness of faith." If God, as I understood him from what I'd been taught and what I understood the Bible to say, was God, he wasn't hiding, and I could easily have the connection that I was looking for. I did find the truth that I was looking for, but it wasn't what I was expecting. I had a complete paradigm shift. My faith and beliefs are much more eclectic now. But I came to a point where I had to release nearly everything that I had once believed and start from scratch. Some things that helped me to build my current beliefs (which are still a work in progress) are: Edgar Cayce. My brother introduced me to his teachings after I confessed to him that I no longer believed in the Bible like I once had. Edgar Cayce's interpretation of the Bible is very INCLUSIVE. He teaches reincarnation. He teaches mysticism. There is no be-saved-or-die-and-spend-eternity-in-hell dogma. http://www.edgarcayce.org is a good place to start, if you're interested. There's a lot of good articles you can access without becoming a member. If you like to read, you could start with the books There Is A River and then The Story of Jesus. But be forewarned: Edgar Cayce's readings are like reading KJV. They're not that easy to follow! Near-Death Experiences. As someone else mentioned, reading about these can be very enlightening. It's amazing how similar these are even though the backgrounds of the people experiencing them can be so incredibly different (i.e. atheist vs. Methodist pastor). http://near-death.com/ is a great place to read about these. Ask A Pagan thread. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/455100-ask-a-pagan-thread/?hl=ask+pagan For me, this was great. But as others have pointed out, there's also the Ask An Atheist and Ask A Muslim threads, and many others relating to religion and worldviews. The point is that reading about other's beliefs has been a huge help. Reading books is great, too, so I'm not minimizing that, but there's just something special about reading experiences and beliefs from so many different people and different backgrounds and beliefs. It really helped me to see that there are REAL PEOPLE who think and believe this way, not just some random person mentioned in a book. WTM forum posts has been great for that. Hell is a Christian Hoax. http://bible-truths.com/23-minutes-in-hell.html This is one article on Bible-truths.com. The way the author interpreted the Bible and different verses was very interesting and definitely not something I had ever heard before. He has several other articles on different doctrines, like the Trinity, but this was the first one I read. I don't believe everything that these people and sites say, but they were very helpful for me when I was searching. I am still searching, though I am doing so through a place of peace, a peace that I NEVER had as a "Christian," not the kind of Christian I was brought up to be, anyway. My dh is like yours, and still follows the more traditional Christian belief system. This is a bit of conflict, but we are working through it. I only go to church on Sunday mornings, and whenever there's something special (like the kids singing) going on. But this is getting tiresome for me, so I'm not sure how much longer I can continue with this. Also, the co-op that we go to is Christian. They're much more relaxed, but still, so often I feel like a hypocrite because I just don't believe like people think I do. (I live the Bible belt, too, so there's a very strong Christian presence around here, and it permeates into EVERYTHING!) I don't have much advice for you in this area. Just letting you know that there's someone else out there going through something similar. :grouphug: I am going to go back and see if I can link to websites for you...but last time I did that, I lost my whole post. :crying: So, if it doesn't work, you'll have to befriend Google. And if you search for the Ask A ... threads here on WTM, sort by title, ascending. That helps to find them easier. edited to add: I had to add the links by typing them in manually because if I didn't, the page would freeze. :glare: Hopefully, they work.

What about David, a man after God's own heart? He committed adultery and then murder.

OP, you should read The Gift of Fear. One of the main points it stresses is that people see warning signs that they are in danger, but they choose to reason them away. You need to be careful not to reason away warning signs that your family could be in danger. No one should be dismissing your concerns, least of all your dh or your pastor. You know your dh and probably already know how he thinks and why he hasn't taken this more seriously. And your pastor is using Christianese to try to deflect your concerns instead of taking them seriously. Crazy woman asking for your babies is wrong, but the many possible scenarios and context make the danger level much harder to determine from the outside looking in. However, someone taking the actual steps and giving a false report that could result in your children being wrongfully taken from their parents SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. This isn't something to just be brushed aside! Both of those men should be chastised for dismissing your concern. Don't dismiss your concerns just because other people dismiss them. Don't reason away warning signs to keep peace or to avoid being thought you're overprotective, paranoid, or whatever. Don't sell your instincts short. I don't like confrontations, but I will access my inner Mama Bear if my kids need it. You may need to do the same.

I disagree about staying at that church. I would not do it. I would probably have a talk with the pastor and explain why we weren't staying, and I would be upfront about it with anyone that asked, though I probably wouldn't just volunteer the information. But I would not stay. If someone has a concern about my kids, they should come to me about it. In fact, that's happened several times before at church. I have six rough and tumble kids. Every one of them has gone to church with scrapes, bruises, etc., particularly the toddlers, because they're so clumsy and they try so hard to keep up with their older siblings! The reactions I get are along the lines of: "Poor little boy! What happened?" Followed by an explanation from kid or mom, or both. Calling CPS or even threatening to call CPS because a kid has some bruise is not normal and screams warning signs. It is crossing a line with me, and I will not be a part of any group where there was even one person present that did that. It would counteract any good from being a part of that group. I would worry that anything my kids or I did might cause them call CPS again. It isn't worth it. I would never be able to interact normally at that church again. There are other churches out there.

OP, I can relate to your husband. It seems that I'm in a similar situation and my dh is in your shoes. He's very unhappy right now and while I'm sad for him, I have a peace and joy that I NEVER had as a "Christian." With that in mind, a lot of things just don't bother me as much. Maybe your dh is more accepting of things because he's more relaxed, not because he's being a jerk or is rejecting morality, but because he doesn't have to live by some rules that he doesn't really believe in? I know that I am free, and I don't want someone trying to shove me back in a box of rules that I don't believe in, so sometimes I can be defensive. My dh and I have had to compromise on some things. What do and your dh agree on, particularly with regards to how your kids should behave? If your dd is giving you attitude, what does your dh say about that? As for your dd, as a teen she could very well be pushing her boundaries, or testing you, or lashing out. But, Is it possible that your feelings may be have you over-analyzing things? The wicked queen is an awesome character! So much to her! (Though I haven't seen season 3 yet.) And so is Moriarty, a psychopath. And Crowley, the King of Hell. That doesn't mean I'm going to become evil. It just means that I love how well the characters are written and played and how much they bring to the shows. My dd14 and my ds17 love discussing our shows, and sometimes we will watch an episode and be like, "Crowley is so awesome!" I find it sad that I could never do anything like that with my mom because all bad guys were rejected on principle. She could never relax and have fun. She was always worried that some thing was going to open a door and lead us down the path to hell. I'm not saying that's what you're doing, just that I found it sad that I couldn't share the things that I enjoyed with her because she could only see one side of things. Anyway, all of that was just to give you a viewpoint from someone who's in you dh's position. I'm sorry things are difficult. I know things for us are really hard right now, too. I will be so glad when dh and I finally reach some sort of consensus on our beliefs and how we work our lives together around our differing views.

Numbers for what?

I'm not arguing for or against getting the pertussis...or any...vaccine. I wouldn't use that article as a reason for not getting the pertussis vaccine. It's an example of deceit. Stop trying to deceive people. Stop saying things that are misleading. Be honest. Help parents make the best decision for their child. Stop saying that a vaccine is safe for pregnant women and will not harm their child when that was never tested. Stop saying that newborn infants should receive a vaccine mere days after birth when they are at no risk for the disease but high risk for complications to the vaccine. Stop using scare tactics to vaccinate against a disease that is no longer naturally occurring in America. Stop saying that it is important for our society for the majority of people to be vaccinated, but then say it is not important to stop undocumented people (not health screened) from coming in and infecting anyone with who knows what. Stop saying that since it hasn't been proven, then it is false. If it's unproven, it's unproven. It isn't false unless it's been proven false. Stop assuming that someone is ignorant or idiotic because they have a different opinion than you do....and really, this goes BOTH WAYS. (And I'm speaking in general here, mostly directed to health officials and the media, not specifically YOU.)